Wanted
by Creign
Summary: Sasusaku She never wanted to be drafted as Sasuke's medic-nin, but she needed the protection. She was determined for the past to stay in the past. What she didn't expect was for his teammates, especially Karin, to get in the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Wanted**

Chapter One

by Creign

Sakura ran through the trees at breakneck speed. The rhythmic, thumps of her boots against the branches drove the birds out of their nests, but she could barely hear it over the pounding of her heart. Or the muffled cries of her pursuers- the bandits and thieves of the backcountry.

She had been on a diplomacy mission to a country now overrun by rouge nin, in hopes of restoring the political puppet of a daimyo to his former strength. Tsunade had specifically sent Sakura because the daimyo knew how important her apprentice was to her, and would hopefully honor Sakura in her stay at his country.

The problem was, when she had accepted the mission from Tsunade, she had no idea how long it would take. It wasn't till she had stamped the mission scroll that she realized the mission's length would conflict with her scheduled seminar to Suna's medical staff and board, which she'd promised Gaara.

There was no finding a replacement for her in this mission either because she was the only apprentice of Tsunade that wasn't heavily pregnant. She muttered spitefully under her breath. Shizune sure knew when to get laid.

Pressured by the time restraint, Sakura had doubled her pace and forgotten to focus on the possibility of assaulters. It was, after all, a country without police and a haven for criminals.

After unexpectedly breaking into a clearing, she realized she had stumbled straight into a criminal camp. Her eyes drifted from the makeshift tents, to the smothering fire, and finally to the rouge ninja that lounged around the camp. For a second, both parties stilled.

Fighting would take more time than she had to spare. Sakura had headed for the trees, cursing her luck. Shouts of confusion sounded behind her. She figured they'd give up once they realized she wasn't going to report them to whatever authority there was left.

But needless to say, they were still hot on her trails, even after miles of foliage. Sakura cursed again. At this rate, she would run out of chakra before she could get away. It figured that she'd have to fight them after exhausting her chakra supply in running.

She stopped on the branch suddenly, and braced herself.

"You little bitch, don't even think about getting away! You still owe us the cash!"

Cash? She didn't owe anyone anything. They had confused her with someone else, but she doubted that would keep them from attacking her. Standing back to back with the tree, she prepared for combat.

The bandits broke through the foliage gracelessly. There were three of them, each burly and armed with heavy weapons.

"Hey," one squinted at her. "You ain't the chick who asked for directions."

Directions? Sakura had never even looked at him. Not that there was much to look at. The man was built like a barn with a face only a mother could love. His two lackeys weren't much cuter.

"I think you… gentlemen have me confused with someone else." She could resolve this without conflict. Dialogue would buy her time to think of an escape route. Quickly scanning her surroundings, she calculated it was either down her original path, or breaking through the trees. Neither sounded appealing, or even possible with them on her trails.

"Guess not. But now that you've seen our camp…" he sneered. The other two bandits grinned.

They pulled out weapons and lunged.

* * *

Karin signaled for the group to stop, and pulled her own weight to halt her momentum.

The group looked at her questioningly.

After carefully utilizing her tracking abilities, she said, "The bandits from before are a little while ahead. They must have taken a detour around us. I think they mean to cut us off." She was pleased that she managed to sound cool and confident. After all, it was stressful talking with the man of her dreams standing a scant ten feet away. She was this close to turning to puddy at his feet.

"Shit, Karin. That was one hell of an idea." Another of the group of nin spoke up, running a hand through his grey hair. He leaned a little to keep his balance against the branches the group had come to a halt on and snapped a water bottle off his belt. "We can't run forever- now we gotta fight them anyway… Told you we should have beat the information out of them."

"Shut up, Suigetsu. We needed to avoid conflict," Karin snapped at him.

Suigetsu took an audible gulp of water. "Well, you shouldn't have offered them money for directions. You're lucky they didn't demand to be paid up front. But now…" he smirked, "looks like we _have_ to fight."

"There was no other way," she said. "And for your information, they aren't after us. They're fighting now with a Leaf kunoichi."

Out of her peripheral vision, Sasuke shifted. "Leaf kunoichi?"

Suigetsu smirked. "Friend of yours, Sasuke?"

Sasuke ignored him. "How the fight going, Karin?"

Karin shivered. She felt a small pride in knowing that Sasuke trusted her abilities fully. The feel of his full attention on her was exhilarating. And the way he said her name… Quickly, she chided herself. Now was not the time for melting into a useless puddle. She concentrated on the four chakras up ahead. It was easy to tell who was winning.

"The kunoichi is drained, but it doesn't appear to be from the fight. She's not losing chakra as rapidly as the other three. Oh, wait…" Karin paused as there was a flicker in the kunoichi's chakra. "She just blacked out."

Nodding, Sasuke looked at his group. "Wait here." Then he headed for the bandits up ahead.

Suigetsu whistled when he was sure Sasuke was out of hearing range. "Looks like someone's burnt bridges are still smoking."

* * *

Sasuke broke through the clearing, simultaneously drawing a kunai to his hand. The remaining two bandits didn't see him coming; he had their throats opened before he hit the floor. Swiftly, he moved towards the form of the other, presumably the kunoichi.

His eyes fell over her disarrayed clothing, slim body, and fine-boned face. Pointed chin, high cheekbones, wide forehead, candy floss hair, and pale eyelids that he knew covered bright green eyes.

He almost sighed. Fate certainly loved its games.

He turned on his heel, satisfied to leave. She was no threat. Suddenly, a voice stopped him, a voice that he hadn't heard in over three years.

"Sasu-ke- kun, wait..." Sakura's voice drifted to him, thin and weak, a casualty of chakra exhaustion.

Hesitantly, he looked back at her. She hadn't moved from her position on her back. He walked and crouch down next to her shoulder, clearly expecting her to say something. He was impatient to get back to his team before they discovered him and her together and asked annoying questions.

He watched her peer him through her hair. His raised his eyebrow when she didn't say anything, seemingly content with drinking in his features.

"Sasuke," she started, "I, that is, we-"

"If this is about Konoha then I don't want to hear it." Sasuke cut in, cold and toneless.

"But..." she trailed off, intimidated by his bluntness. For a moment, she fell silent; then she closed her eyes. It looked like she was debating something.

Sasuke was about to leave again, when suddenly with one deep breath, she pushed herself into a sitting position. She almost fell on her back again, disoriented by the blood flow from her head, but she leaned against the back of a tree trunk near where she fell. During her shift in position, Sasuke noticed a mission scroll peeking out of her hip pouch.

Curious, Sasuke decided. He didn't sense any teammates around so this must have been a solo mission. The Sakura he knew wasn't strong enough to handle solos; she could barely qualify as a tag-a-long.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

* * *

Sakura felt woozy and nauseous. She'd forgotten how miserable chakra deprivation felt. Struggling, she leaned her back against a tree and focused her attention on her former teammate, who, standing now, was staring down at her.

The first thing she saw were his eyes, blazing crimson, pinning her down. She almost lost her breath. It felt like he could see her thoughts, and they scared her. The black strands that fell over his eyes were longer, she noticed. His hair was the dark and unruly mess it always was. His nose was the same as before as well- aristocratic and straight, and his lips, thin and determined. In other words, he was the same cold, beautiful man he had been three years ago, when he'd tried to run her through with his sword.

Shaking, she pushed the thought out of her mind.

"What are you doing here?" She jumped when he suddenly spoke.

She hesitated before answering, but she had a feeling he could tell if she lied. "I'm on a diplomacy mission to the daimyo of this country."

"You're headed to the capital? Alone?" He seemed to scoff a little.

Indignantly, she huffed at his implication. "Yes, _alone_." She snapped. She was more than a little irked that after all these years, he still saw her as a weak and useless kunoichi.

She met his gaze dead-on. He broke eye contact first, opting to sweep over her figure- dirtied, and slouching.

Blatantly, she realized her current condition was no giveaway to the real power she'd achieved under years of Tsunade's tutelage and hard training.

Suddenly curious, she wondered what Sasuke was doing in a country like this. She knew it was a place for many fugitives, but in her mind Sasuke was always a few levels above the common criminal.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She asked.

"I have... business with the daimyo as well," he answered and turned on his heal, walking away from her. It seemed she already lost his interest.

"Hey, wait!" Sakura, alarmed that he was leaving without warning again, struggled to her feet. Once she regained her balance, she ran towards him. "You can't just leave like that!"

Sasuke paused in his steps. Inwardly, Sakura wondered why he had walked away from her rather than sprinting for the trees. Perhaps he was waiting for her to call him back...? She dismissed the thought as soon as it came.

"Then come with me." Sasuke was as monotone as ever.

"...what?"

Sasuke moved impatiently, and turned towards her. "Come _with_ me, to the head village."

"Why?" Was he finally acknowleging her strength?

"We need a healer, and you need protection."

Sakura puffed up, annoyed. "I do not need- "

Once again, Sasuke cut her off. "Yes, you do." He eyed her current state meaningfully.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't looking perfect and spotless. But still... "Wait, whose 'we'?"

"My team." Sasuke said shortly.

"You have a _team_? Who?" Sakura was incredulous. She'd always pictured Sasuke to be the loner type.

"Come with us and find out."

Inwardly Sakura debated. On one hand, going with Sasuke to the capital was potentially dangerous _plus _she'd have to use chakra to heal his team, but on the other hand, she _did_ have to get back in time for the seminar, which she was sure she wouldn't make on her own. Glancing at Sasuke, she silently decided to trust him. Hopefully, he wouldn't let her down.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

by Creign

Sakura shivered under the cold gaze of the man standing in front of her. The meager light haloed around his head. She almost smiled at the irony.

Instead, she focused on the matter at hand. Sasuke was obviously expecting her to follow him, actually _walk_, something she couldn't do at her currently exhausted state. Thankfully, she had expected this scenario- without the Sasuke factor, of course. Rummaging through what was left of her pack, she pulled out the drawstring pouch that held her chakra pills. Condensed soldier rations- steroids of the ninja world.

She grinned and popped the marble shaped pill in her mouth, breaking it with a loud crunch. She could feel the chakra slowly ooze back into her system, the nausea fading. Of course, the chocolate flavor gave it an extra oomph.

She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and met Sasuke's gaze.

"Well, let's see that team of yours." She hadn't meant for that to sound so challenging.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "This way," he said, and jumped back into the foliage. She leaped for the trees too, frowning at the intense speed Sasuke was driving them at.

Even though the rations gave her a huge boost, it still kinda hurt to be running so fast so soon after total depletion. Determined not to fall back though, she pushed herself until she was near next to him.

"So, your team… what are they like?" She asked quietly, voice barely rising over the sound of the wind.

She saw Sasuke's brow furrow, his body language stiffen, but he didn't respond.

Frustrated, she looked to the skies, bruised with sunset. She frowned. That meant she would probably have to camp with Sasuke for the night. She realized that she would eventually have to face what Sasuke had been doing for the past few years- she just didn't realize it would be so soon. She probably shouldn't have even accepted his offer. Deep down, she knew that the Suna sermon had almost nothing to do with why she agreed to join his team. She herself wasn't even sure why she'd said yes.

Sakura _was_ sure that she didn't want to know the unconscious implications accepting.

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped, and then Sakura heard it too. The clang of steel on steel.

"ANBU," Sakura breathed. Here was another reason she was hesitant. Living a life of constant evasion with tracker shinobi hot on her tails didn't sound too appealing.

"Let's go," Sasuke said and headed straight for the battle. Either he had previous experience with ANBU, or he was very confident in his ability. Sakura was willing to bet money that both were true.

Gradually, the trees thinned into poplar trunks, and that was when the fight came into sight.

The huge, strapping shinobi hammering his way through the uniformed ANBU caught Sakura's attention first, simply because he was literally breaking the tree trunks into splinters. A slimmer, white-haired man slipped around his enemies, moving around the rubble his teammate had created. The last member of the fight was a redhead girl, holding off three ANBU with a kunai. Peripherally, she saw Sasuke run for the girl at an ungodly speed.

Sakura's heart gave an unpleasant clench, but she pushed the emotions aside. Sasuke had assembled quite a group for himself; everything about them seemed elite.

"Who's _she_?" A snarky voice startled Sakura. She realized that all the Mist ANBU lay in one big pile off the side of the clearing, dead. Well, that was fast.

The redhead had addressed her. Sakura looked at her closer. Edgy haircut, belly shirt, booty shorts, and thigh high boots, this was a girl, no, woman, who breathed confidence. Sakura couldn't imagine what Sasuke needed her for. Elite, she reminded herself.

Swallowing the distaste in her mouth, she remembered her mother's "you can't judge a book by its cover", and said "I'm Sakura."

"I didn't ask _you_," the redhead snapped. Okay, Sakura had given her a chance to earn her respect and _clearly_, this bitch just shoved it into the toilet and threw up on it. Not cool.

Just when she was about to retort with something witty, Sasuke cut in. "Karin," was all he said, and Sakura frowned when said redhead's eyes turned just a smudge dreamier. "Suigetsu, Juugo." The other two members of the team appeared from behind the tree. Sakura noticed that the slimmer one seemed to be nursing a dislocated shoulder.

"This is Sakura. She's going to be our medic nin for the time being."

Suigetsu met her gaze. "Are you Leaf?"

"Yes." Sakura replied and not without pride.

"And you're good?" He eyed her with a skeptical eye.

"I guess." What kind of question was that?

Suigetsu grinned suddenly. "You better be. Good at something other than screwing, I mean. Puts you above _her_standard." He nodded in Karin's general direction, and Sakura wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to say to that.

Karin was, though, and punched Suigetsu's injured shoulder solidly. "I'm not going to dignify that with a response. At least I don't put my moves on Sasuke butt naked and grind on him like a stripper on a pole_._"

Suigetsu reddened with indignation, and snapped, "Maybe you have wet dreams of me and Sasuke grinding assbared like strippers on poles, but please keep your perverseness to yourself. The rest of us value what innocence we have left." Karin snorted, but Sakura didn't hear the rest.

Sakura was horrified, her jaw making friends with the ground. Sasuke was sleeping with all of them? No wonder they were all so _nice_ looking. But, oh _God-_

"Shut up, idiots." Sasuke said and walked off.

"Hey, wait for me!" Karin called and followed him. She latched onto his arm, and Sakura was pleased to note that Sasuke shrugged her off. Juugo was gone too.

"Hey doctor. Aren't you going to heal this? Or are you _privately reserved _for Uchiha too?"

Sakura snorted. "I'm about as privately reserved for Sasuke as you." She walked over to Suigetsu and gestured for him to sit down. Then she pushed the fabric aside to take a look at the lovely bruise blossoming over his left shoulder.

"For all you know, I _could _be privately reserved for him." Suigetsu watched her hands suspiciously, wary of any malicious chakra.

"Somehow, I doubt it…" Sakura trailed off. "Okay, I'm going to have to set this back into the joint. It'll hurt."

She was startled when he laughed suddenly. "A dislocated shoulder is _nothing_ compared to what I've been through, what our entire team has been through," then as an afterthought he added, "_kid_."

Sakura didn't doubt it, but she wasn't sure she liked the sardonic, cynical tone in his voice. It felt as though he was mocking her as a sheltered, ignorant Konoha medic nin, something that was _not _true. She had seen thrice the average being's share veins and nerves and bones, felt a heart pulsing under her surgeon's scalpel, worn the scent of antiseptic like perfume, and tasted firsthand the horrors ninjutsu was capable of. There was absolutely no way this rouge-nin could be calling her a child.

Determined, she raised her gaze to his for the first time. Eyes the color of rain met her, and she was surprised when they held little malicious intent. They just seemed… wistful.

Swallowing the acerbic retort on her tongue, she warned "Here I go," and applied measured force to his shoulder. The joint set with an audible pop; true to his word, Suigetsu so much as blinked.

His pain tolerance was impressive, she decided while cleaning up the internal mess around his shoulder. Then she rummaged through the scraps of her pack and set a splint for him. "I've sped the healing up. The joint should be usable in a week or so."

Suigetsu gingerly rolled his shoulder around. "Thanks," he grunted then walked away.

Not so pleased with the rude dismissal, Sakura repacking her stuff with gusto.

"You heal well," a voice observed, and Sakura raised her head to see Sasuke leaning against a tree. He was watching her, probably had been for the past few minutes. She was dismayed to find that she hadn't even felt his presence.

"Thank you. I've been working hard," she replied to his rare compliment. "Only the best for your team, right?" she added jokingly.

Sasuke's mood seemed to darken at her words; She wondered if she had touched a nerve. He closed his eyes and straightened up. Then he followed Suigetsu's path out of the clearing. Sakura, assuming their conversation (if you could call it that) was over, grabbed her bag and stood up too.

"Hebi," Sasuke suddenly stated.

"Pardon?" Sakura asked.

"My team. We're Hebi." Then he left it at that, jumping into the the trees.

--

Exhausted, Sakura settled into her sleeping mat. She could hear Suigetsu's leveled breathing from behind her.

With a sigh, she eased under the material and stared up at the canopy overhead. The trees' silhouettes cleared up for a little patch of black sky to peek through. Wistfully, she thought of Sasuke.

Sasuke, who was now so cold, so distant, but different than before. She used to fantasize that his eyes were the windows into his soul, a way to distinguish his affections for her. Now, everytime she looked into the dull onyx irises, she felt a chill. Sasuke was carrying something deep inside of him, a disease, that was stealing him from reality and plunging him into his own void. It was eating at him from the inside, and it was showing.

She barely recognized this disturbed individual to be the one who had with Naruto, declined her dates, and made admirable efforts to avoid girls on Valentines Day.

Nostalgia was suffocating her.

She heard voices, coming from the other side of camp. Belatedly, she realized that the voice belonged to Sasuke.

Who could he be talking to? Himself?

She couldn't deny that she was a little worried about his mental condition; he was at risk for an onslaughts of possible disorders with his childhood, his environment, and his brother's genetics.

She snorted at herself a little. She knew fear of schizophrenia had almost nothing to do with why she was desperate to eavesdrop on Sasuke. Self-delusion was never her forte.

Sakura knew that she couldn't just walk over to him, he would sense her before she made it halfway. She decided to try out a trick she'd learned from Kiba.

Carefully, she fed tiny amounts of chakra into her eardrums, enhancing the vibrations times four. It was a trick that could only be used on quiet nights like this lest she be bombarded with outside noise. The trick let her pick up the rustling of the trees, the chirping of cicidas on trees yards away, but most of all, Sasuke's voice rang clear in her head.

"-so don't worry," he whispered, although it sounded rather loud in her ear. It seemed he was moving while talking because she could hear background noise.

"Are you sure?" another familiar voice, Karin's, sounded in her ear. What was that woman doing with Sasuke? Maybe they discussing some secret mission, like why Team Hebi was headed to the capital?

"She means nothing, just a little leverage over the ANBU. We need a medic nin to make it through this territory," Sakura suddenly realized that they were discussing _her_.

"I don't like her. The only reason she's with us is to get into your pants. I won't have that little whore prancing around pretending to be a medic nin, while ruining all your plans-" Karin's rising voice was cut off by rustling, and then Sasuke was talking again.

"She's nothing to me." His voice sounded different, raspier.

"Well what about _us?_" Karin demanded between sounds that sounded awfully like panting.

"Be patient, Karin," he said, even voice a foil to Karin's raised one.

"I'm sick of waiting, Sasuke, I want- mm..." She was cut off by the rustling again, but Sakura didn't need to hear anymore.

Her stomach twisted itself into a painful knot, and she was so queasy she could vomit right then. How could she have not seen it? That was why Karin had been so angry when Sasuke had introduced her to his Team, why Suigetsu said the things he did. How could she have been so stupid? Did she delude herself into thinking they were joking?

Sakura fought to control her fast watering eyes, smothering her tears into her mat. Of course the two were together, they were _perfect _for each other. He was strong and ambitious, and Karin was mature and willing. Most of all, they were both rouge nin with no obligations to anyone but themselves.

Sakura despaired knowing that she would never be what Sasuke needed her to be, nothing but a useless tagalong medic nin. He would never see her in another light but the whiny little teammate who annoyed the hell out of him and remained the weakest link.

Refusing to think about what Sasuke was doing at the moment, Sakura stifled her tears and forced herself to fall into a fitless sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading, guys. Yes, yes the next chapter will be full of romance to make up for this one.


End file.
